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In the face of growing consumer demand for transparency, McDonald's (MCD) has launched social media campaigns in Canada and Australia to answer consumer-submitted questions. McDonald's has also added a "Your Questions Answered" section to its U.S. website addressing various customer concerns. Here are some common questions, with summaries of the company's responses.

Stories about McDonald's hamburgers that last years before rotting are frequently cited as evidence that fast food is loaded with preservatives. McDonald's USA offers another explanation. "The reason our food may appear not to decompose comes down to a matter of simple science. In order for decomposition to occur, you need certain conditions -– specifically moisture. Without sufficient moisture –- either in the food itself or the environment –- bacteria and mold may not grow and therefore, decomposition is unlikely. So if food is or becomes dry enough, it is unlikely to grow mold or bacteria or decompose. Food prepared at home that is left to dehydrate could see similar results. Look closely, the burgers you are seeing are likely dried out and dehydrated, and by no means 'the same as the day they were purchased.'" Keith Warriner, the program director at the University of Guelph's Department of Food Science and Quality Assurance, gives a lengthier explanation.

The ingredients in cheddar cheese slices: Milk, cream, water, cheese culture, sodium citrate, and 2 percent or less of salt, citric acid, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid (preservative), lactic acid, acetic acid, enzymes, sodium pyrophosphate, natural flavor, color added and soy lecithin. "The major ingredient in our signature slices is natural cheese, so the plastic rumor is just a myth," says Nicole Thornton, a McDonald's crew member in Sydney, Australia, in a video. Other ingredients include milk solids, butter and emulsifiers, which improve the color and texture of processed foods. "If you are referring to the smoothness and flexibility of our cheese," she explains, "that is obtained by blending heated cheeses and other ingredients with emulsifiers and then dispensing it onto a smooth chilled surface, just like some of the processed cheeses you'll find in the supermarket."

"McDonald's frying oil contains a small amount of an additive called dimethlypolysiloxane, which helps prevent oil from foaming and spattering in our restaurants," McDonald's USA explains. Dimethylpolysiloxane is also used in some non-food products, such as putty, caulks and cosmetics. For that reason, "there have been individuals who have erroneously claimed that these items are also in our food," the company says, noting that scientific names for ingredients can "sound scary" even if they are safe and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"For example, the salt you use to de-ice a driveway is a variation of the salt you use in the kitchen, however they are both sodium chloride," the company writes. A McDonald's Canada video explains the process of making McNuggets.

This is one of the most commonly asked questions about McDonald's food in Australia, according to Jonathon Pitt, a McDonald's franchise owner in Queensland. "Absolutely, there is no pig fat in our soft serve -- or in our shakes, for that matter," Pitt says in a video on how the frozen yogurt is made. "The only animal products in our soft serve are the dairy ingredients themselves." That includes milk, cream and milk solids. Sugar is added for sweetness and emulsifiers are used to keep the mixture from separating. "Vegetable gums are also used to give it a thick, smooth texture," he says. "And finally, a little vanilla flavor is added."

The company says it removed the substance from its meat three years ago. "Lean finely textured beef treated with ammonia, what some individuals call 'pink slime' or select lean beef trimmings, is not used in our burgers. Any recent reports that it is are false," McDonald's USA writes.

And what is "pink slime"? Lean beef trimmings -- what's left of the meat after all the choice cuts of beef are taken -- that are treated with ammonium hydroxide, creating the pink hue. Ammonium hydroxide kills bacteria, such as E. coli. The trimmings are banned from human consumption in the U.K., but the U.S. Department of Agriculture deems them safe for people to eat.

"Once the potatoes are cut, we push the strips to a blancher to remove the natural sugars from the strips," Mario Dupuis, the production manager for McCain, a fries supplier for McDonald's Canada, says in a video. "This will prevent some variation in our color once we re-cook the product. Following the blanching process we add a a dextrose solution to have that nice even coat that we see in the restaurants. We also add an ingredient to our strips to make sure that we prevent the graying of our product throughout the process." Moisture is removed from the strips before they are fried, frozen and packaged for shipping.

None of McDonald's chicken in the U.S. contains added hormones, since federal law bans hormones in poultry. But the same can't be said for beef. "It is common U.S. cattle industry practice to use FDA-approved growth promotants, like naturally occurring or synthetic hormones, in animals being raised to produce beef," McDonald's USA writes. "McDonald's USA does not have any requirements beyond meeting all FDA regulations for use of growth promotants in cattle."

The company assumes at least some of its cattle spend time grazing before heading to a feed lot to be finished on grain. "Farming practices vary, but generally much of the cattle in the U.S., including the cattle we use for our beef, are grass fed for the first part of their lives," McDonald's USA writes. "When cattle enter feedlots in the latter part of their lives, they are provided a balanced diet that may include grains, grasses and mineral blends in their feed."

McDonald's uses forequarter and hindquarter trimmings, as well as whole muscle cuts in its beef patties. McDonald's Australia explains in more detail: "Beef trimmings are portions of meat remaining after the preparation of the whole muscle cuts. Forequarter refers to the front half of a side of beef and hindquarter refers to the rear half. Whole muscle cuts, or primals as they are referred to in the industry, are defined portions of a side [of] beef (or [carcass]). Forequarter primals include the blade, brisket, chuck, and spencer roll, amongst others, and the hindquarter includes primals such as the hind shank, silverside, thin flank and topside. The primals that may be included in our beef raw materials are usually from the forequarter, and typically include the chuck and the blade."

Most of the beef that McDonald's uses in U.S. restaurants is raised domestically, with a small percentage from Australia and New Zealand, the company says. All of the chicken served in McDonald's U.S. restaurants is raised domestically.

McDonald's USA explains that the beef is ground, formed into patties and then flash-frozen. "Flash-freezing helps ensure the quality and flavor of our burgers when they are cooked in our restaurants," the company says.

The beef patties are formed from ground beef in a factory, flash-frozen and sent to McDonald's restaurants. Before they are served, the patties are seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled for 40 seconds, according to a video from McDonald's Australia. They are held in a warming bin. "We keep our cooked burgers hot for a maximum of 15 minutes, but we're usually so busy that they don't stay in there for very long," Katie Geoghan, a McDonald's crew member from Melbourne, Australia, says in the video.

"Our eggs are not organic, nor are they free-range; they are from caged hens," McDonald's Australia writes. Caged hens produce the cheapest eggs, which helps keeps McDonald's prices low, the company says. "Our goal is to provide customers with great quality food at great value," the company's answer reads. "The cost of organic or free range eggs would raise the price of our food to a point that our customers may not feel they are receiving the value they've come to expect from us." In the U.S., however, McDonald's buys a "small amount" of cage-free eggs as part of a project on hen housing systems. "In the U.S., there is no consensus or firm scientific research on whether one type of housing system is better than the other, which leads to a lot of confusion," McDonald's USA adds.

Some of the eggs are cooked fresh, while others are pre-made. The eggs used for the Egg McMuffin are all freshly cracked onto the grill in McDonald's restaurants, according to the company. The scrambled eggs and egg whites are also cooked in the restaurants, but they contain liquid eggs instead of freshly cracked eggs. The folded eggs and the egg that comes in McDonald's sausage burrito are made in factories, flash-frozen and sent to restaurants, where the dishes are warmed before being served.

McDonald's Australia says eggs are held in a warming bin for no more than 20 minutes after cooking. "Like many restaurants, we prepare certain items beforehand, in order to serve our customers in a timely way," the company writes. "Our food is held at a food-safe holding temperature, in the case of eggs, 79°C, until needed for an order. However, we've become really good at anticipating peak times, and cook enough to meet demand. Your McMuffin is assembled only when you order it."

When I flipped burgers for McDonalds back in the 80s I was, essentially, a short order cook. There were six menu items: hamburger (the Big Mac was just a fancy double burger), quarter pounder, filet o' fish, chicken sandwich, and chicken nuggets. That's it. Now, the menu is so freaking complex and convoluted on the one hand, and the food is made on an assembly line with picture graphics above each station. That's what's wrong with their food. Stick to what got you to the top, stop trying to "grow the brand" which is a fool's errand.

MCDonalds Employees and Walmart Employess are Trying to STAND UP for the Rest of American's Minium Wage Increase,,,,,,,,,,,,Therefore the STATES are trying to Destroy them. Walmart has already Put Employess Under 30 Hours in order to DROP paying Health Insurance. and McDonalds EMPLOYEES will be the only hope left for Minimum WAGE increase $10.10.

Here's why it doesn't decompose: it's loaded with preservatives. But why ? The restaurants have an amazing turn over. Most of the food is sold in one day. So why all of the preservatives ?Preservatives are cheap. Most of them are derrived from things like ground limestone (dirt) and other very inexpensive materials. Typically limestone is $100.00 a ton or 5 cents a pound. It's much cheaper than modified food starch, the next food filler in line before fibre (cellulose - saw dust). What is modified food starch ? It's a kind of edible goo made from corn that costs about $300 a ton (15 cents a pound). These things add weight and bulk at very little cost.All of them are approved by the FDA and basically are harmless.

Hahahahaha. Of course, the explanation is written by McDonalds. Monsanto tells us their poisons sprayed on our food is safe, so why wouldn't we believe it? Bad=Bad and Poison=Poison. Disgusting BS and I can't believe how many people ignore the fact that they are being poisoned, FDA being the biggest gullible fool!

whether you read this or not its a place to say something after reading what someone else has written and you quickly want to respond but yet find yourself taking a different course instead of what you wanted to say in the first place. In other words, what I am writing is just a bunch of words that don't matter to anyone at all other than to those who actually read it. Once again, they find themselves caught up in the same trap. I don't think anyone is trying to take out Mcdonalds. Not the government, not the competition. But what does sell is the news, the headlines, whether true or false news will sell to people like me and you likewise. Don't believe everything you read because everything you read is not always 100% true or thoughly investigated. For the most part, just like people, if you dig deep enough to look for something wrong, you will find it. Food in general, the quality, the preparation, any fast food or any restaurant is subject to be investigated and critized. It should be. Alot of us don't have the time to do all that homework. Besides, they get paid for it. The problem is, What do we believe or should I say, "What do we want to believe." Most of the time we believe our co-workers. Oh ya, they're the experts. Thats why they're working with you. I've been taking a lot of supplements with my intake of food. The only information I have is whats on the bottle. Only time will tell if it will work or not. This is what makes the world go around and around without missing a beat. This is life. This is what we all love about our Country. We have the liberty to comment with the comfort of knowing that someone is not going to come and arrest us for our comments. Thats a blessing. Thank God for the freedom and His mercy. His loving kindness. HE said, "If you drink or eat anything poisenous that it will not hurt you. He is talking about what we don't know about what we are eating or drinking. But if you do know, then you have the responsibility to refrain yourselves from MacDonalds and eat at another bad place. Go figure......

When I worked in a McDonalds in the 1980s being in "the grill" was pretty much the same as being a short order cook. Except for the peak lunch and dinner hours everything I cooked was served up immediately. Managers were loathe to keep anything sitting in the heating bin, which all the customers could see. The hourly employees were mostly college students. Today, from what I see, that's all changed and pretty much the reverse prevails. I would not eat there.